The Netherlands bans flights to the UK to stop the virus ‘mutation’ TheJournal.ie

THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT has banned all passenger flights from Britain after finding the first case of a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus circulating in the UK.

The ban, from 6 a.m. local time to January 1, came hours after Britain announced a stay-at-home order for part of the country to slow down the new variant.

“An infectious mutation of the Covid-19 virus is circulating in the UK. It is said to spread easier and faster and is more difficult to detect, ”the Dutch Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The Dutch public health body, RIVM, therefore “recommends that any introduction of this strain of virus from the UK be limited as much as possible by limiting and / or controlling passenger movements.”

The health ministry added that a “case study in the Netherlands in early December revealed a virus with the variant described in the UK.”

Experts were analyzing how the infection happened and if there were any related cases.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet had now made the “precautionary decision” to ban flights from Britain, the statement said, adding that other forms of transport are still under review.

He urged Dutch citizens not to travel unless strictly necessary.

“Over the next few days, together with other EU member states, (the government) will explore the scope to further limit the risk of the new strain of virus being brought in from the UK,” the statement said.

The Netherlands is under a five-week lockdown until mid-January with schools and all non-essential stores closed to stem the rise of the virus.

The move comes after scientists from the UK Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag) concluded that the mutant strain identified by England’s Public Health laboratories at Porton Down was spreading more rapidly. .

The United Kingdom also informed the World Health Organization of its findings.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said the new variant, known as VUI 202012/01, was thought to have originated in London or Kent in September.

In November, it accounted for 28% of new infections in the region, and by early December, it had risen to 60%.

“This new variant is not only moving fast, it is becoming the dominant variant,” he said.

However, he said there was no evidence that it caused a more serious disease than the parent virus, while the scientists’ “working assumption” was that the vaccines that had been developed should be able to treat it.

Meanwhile, NPHET member Dr. Cillian de Gascun said earlier this week that based on available sequence data, this new variant has not been detected in Ireland to date. He said this highlights the importance of vigilance.